Our Lady of Czestochowa

Ahead of the pope's May 8 visit to Pompeii, Italy, the hometown of the saint who promoted the "Fifteen Saturdays" devotion, a new book seeks to reintroduce people to this "forgotten Marian devotion."

On May 8, 2025, the world was introduced to Cardinal Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV. One year later, we look at some of the most significant events and powerful moments of his first year as pope.

“I really had to do a double take, because conventional wisdom has been that there will never be a pope from the United States,” said Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis.

Pope Leo's older brother John Prevost said he and his brothers limit political topics when they speak each week, but there is that "brother connection."

“Religious freedom in India is abysmal," U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Vice Chair Asif Mahmood said at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended targeted sanctions against the Taliban, Iraqi militias, and government officials in Nicaragua, Nigeria, China, and Russia.

The pontiff marked the centenary of the Vatican Publishing House, saying printed books remain a vital “opportunity to think” in the digital age.

The pope expressed his encouragement to the priests who are working in war- torn southern Lebanon. The Holy Father said he prays for them, supports them, and gave them his blessing.

Twenty-eight Swiss Guards were sworn in Wednesday at the Vatican.

Recent excavations at the site match the account of an eighth-century Bavarian bishop who wrote about a church in Bethsaida that was built over the home of Sts. Peter and Andrew.